Scars
by NarcoGilmore
Summary: Future Fic. Rory comes back home years later to find that Dean has a five year old son, which puts him being born shortly after she and Dean broke up the last time. Everyone seemed to know about this except for her.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story takes place in the year 2010. And I got the title from one of my favorite Papa Roach songs. Hope everyone enjoys this. Oh and please review. 

Rory had been living in California for the past three years becoming the author she had always dreamed of being and while she did visit her mom and Luke on the holidays and called every chance she got, it still wasn't enough. Being that she had proved herself to her publishing company with her last best selling novel, they decided to allow and pay for her to move back home for inspiration for her next novel.

Rory arrived home early and decided to rent a car at the airport so she could drive herself home and surprise everyone. Even though they knew she was coming they didn't expect her until later that night. Pulling into the driveway she noticed her mom's car was gone. Her surprise was ruined but she couldn't be upset she didn't tell them she would be there early. She unpacked her car and put all of her stuff into her old bedroom. As she realized her mom was probably still busy at work, she decided to walk to Luke's to visit and of course for the coffee.

"Hey Luke." Rory said smiling walking into the diner.

"Rory, what are you doing here so early? Your mom and I weren't expecting you until seven."

"I took an earlier flight; I couldn't wait to get home."

"Well it's good to see you kid. Come on sit down. You hungry, whatever you want is yours. I'm going to call your mom and tell her you are here."

"Thanks Luke." Rory sat down at the far end of the counter and pulled out a menu. Already knowing exactly what she wanted, it still just felt right to look at the menu.

"Your mom will be here in fifteen minutes, she asked me to remind you how much of a horrible daughter you were for not telling her about this. So you ready to order?" He asked as he poured her a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, I'm actually in the mood for pancakes."

"But breakfast is over."

"You said I could have anything I wanted."

"I did say that didn't I?"

"Yes you did."

"Alright, pancakes coming right up."

"Hey Luke, if she can order breakfast. Does that mean that all of us can order breakfast? Because I would really like some eggs." Kirk said from the corner table.

"No Kirk, Rory is an exception. You are here three times a day; she hasn't been here in months."

"More the reason why you should give me eggs. I'm a regular, she isn't."

"Kirk, just to avoid any further conversation with you, I'm going to make you some eggs."

"Thanks Luke." Kirk smiled happily feeling victorious.

Luke yelled back the orders to Caesar and came back to the counter to help another customer. Rory found that mornings paper lying on the counter and began to read, blocking everything else around her out. The bell above the door rang signaling another customer coming inside but she didn't bother to look up to see who it was.

Dean and Gavin approached the counter on the opposite side of where Rory was sitting. Gavin not being quite tall enough to pull himself up on the barstool, Dean helped him up.

"Hey guys, what can I get you today Gavin?" Luke asked happily and very unusual.

"I want a cheeseburger and some milk. Grandma says if I drink lots of milk I can grow as tall as daddy."

"Well that's true, but as determined as you are I bet you will outgrow your dad. How about you Dean, you want the same thing?"

"I'll just take the burger, I'm tall enough. And could you make that to go, we have to get on the road or else were going to be late for our tour."

Rory heard an all too familiar voice causing her to look up from her paper, she continued to listen trying not to get noticed.

"Sure, no problem. So where are the two of you headed today?"

"I'm taking Gavin to a museum in New York, a dinosaur museum." Dean said in a scary kid voice.

"I'm not scared you know, I love dinosaurs. I want to be an arc arciolly well whatever the world is. I want to dig up dinosaur bones."

"Archeologists." Dean said correcting his son.

The bell from the kitchen rang and Caesar announced that Rory's pancakes were up, instantly causing the two of them to look in each other's direction. Luke sat the pancakes down in front of Rory and continued to help another guest.

"Hey Rory, so you're home." Dean said trying to be friendly.

"Yeah, I just got here about half an hour ago actually."

"Gosh, it's been a really long time since I've seen you, what is it? Five years?"

"Yeah, it's been a while. So how have you been? I see you've kept busy." Rory said pointing in Gavin's direction.

"Oh yeah, Gavin come over here. I want you to meet a good friend of mine."

Gavin walked over to where his dad was standing and smiled at Rory.

"Hello, my name is Gavin Forester. What's yours?"

"I'm Rory Gilmore; it's nice to meet you Gavin."

"Do you know Lorelai? Whenever she is mad at Luke she tells everyone her last name is Gilmore too."

Dean and Rory both began to laugh.

"Yeah actually Lorelai is my mom."

"You're pretty, just like her. So is Luke your dad?"

"Not exactly, but I think of him as my dad. You know what I mean?"

"Yes, I do the same thing with Grandma since I don't have a mommy."

Rory looked back at Dean making sure she had heard him correctly and judging by the expression on his face, she had.

"Hey Gavin, why don't you go ahead and start drinking your milk. I'm going to talk to Rory for a second before we leave."

"Okay daddy."

They both watched Gavin walk back to his seat, this time Luke had been around the counter and helped him up.

"He's really great Dean."

"Yeah, he's a really smart kid. Lorelai said he acts just like you did when you were younger. Which I took as a compliment, by the way."

"How old is he?"

"He turns five on May 17."

"Just a few more weeks."

"Yeah."

"Well after doing the math in my head I've come to the conclusion that he is Lindsay's. I mean five years ago, it was either me or her and it definitely wasn't me." Rory kind of whispered, not sure if everyone knew details.

"Yeah, Lindsay is his mother. Your mom never mentioned any of this to you? I figured you would have known about all of this by now."

"No, she never said anything."

"So, she was pregnant when you left?"

"Yeah, she was." Dean said drawing in a huge breath. "We should really get going; I think we'll still be late at this point. But hey if you're going to be in town for a few days maybe we could have dinner one night."

"Yeah, I actually moved back here for good, hopefully. So I will definitely be around."

"Alright, well then we will see you around then." Dean went back to the counter where his son was sitting and gathered their lunches.

"Bye, Rory." Gavin said smiling as they went out the door.

"Bye Gavin, have fun with the dinosaurs."

Dean and Gavin left and Lorelai arrived at the diner minutes later.

"Rory! Why are you here so early?" Lorelai shouted from the door.

"I decided to take an earlier flight. I was missing the coffee." She said holding up her mug.

"I can't believe you didn't call to tell me so I could have been prepared. We were going to have a surprise party for you."

"Well I guess that we are even now then. And don't worry I was plenty surprised."

"What are you talking about?"

"I ran into Dean AND Gavin."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't want to be the one to tell you about that. I figured since you were living in California, it didn't matter anyway."

"What's the big deal; I mean Dean has a kid."

"Yes he does. So did you talk to Dean about everything?"

"Briefly, he and Gavin were in a hurry to go to the museum."

"So Dean didn't tell you what really happened?"

"We talked for a total of two minutes. If there is something you should tell me then just say it, stop being so cryptic."

"Dean didn't even know that Gavin exists until he was two. Lindsay kept him from Dean because he choose you over her."

Rory turned a pale white and began to feel like the meanest person alive.

"So Gavin didn't have a father until he was two because of me? Why would Lindsay keep this from him? I would have made him go back if I had known there was a child involved."

"Rory, stop it. None of that was your fault. Lindsay was just being selfish. If it hadn't of been for the accident, he still wouldn't know about Gavin."

"What accident?"


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm sorry to interrupt but could the two of you talk about this subject some place a little more private?" Luke asked realizing everyone in the diner was waiting for Rory's reaction.

"We'll talk later, at home."

"Alright. So what are the plans for tonight?" Rory asked as she continued to eat her pancakes.

"Well since you ruined the surprise party, I guess you can still help me decorate for it. Just because you spoiled the surprise doesn't mean we still can't have a party."

"So who and all have you invited to this surprise party?"

"Well you know the usual: Patty, Babette, Luke, Sookie, Lane and even Kirk this time."

"Oh." Rory said in a not so excited tone.

"What is it? Who did I forget? Tell me, it's not too late to invite more."

"No, I guess you covered just about everyone."

"Uh huh, I see. Well I have a few things to get done at the Inn before I can officially dedicate myself to you. So how about we meet at the house around five?"

"Sounds good to me." Rory said as she finished her food. "See ya at five."

"Bye Luke." Lorelai said giving him a quick kiss before going out the door.

As soon as Lorelai was out of sight from the front of the diner she pulled out her cell phone and searched for the number she hoped was still stored in her phone. Luckily it was and she quickly pressed call.

"Hello?" Dean answered.

"Hey Dean, its Lorelai."

"Oh hey Lorelai, what's up?"

"Well as you may already know Rory moved back home."

"Yeah, we ran into her not too long ago at the diner. She told me she was here for a while."

"Yes, well I had planned this surprise party for Rory, which she ruined by showing up so early, but anyway I was hoping you and Gavin could come."

"To the ruined surprise party?"

"Yeah, we figure Rory's home, still an excuse for a party."

"Alright, well when is it?"

"Tonight at seven."

"Okay, well we should be getting back home around 7:30, would it be okay if we are a little late?"

"Oh of course, that's fine."

"We'll see you then. Thanks for inviting us Lorelai."

"Yeah sure, besides I think Rory will be really excited to see the two of you there anyway. Bye Dean."

"Bye Lorelai."

Rory went back home after finishing up at Luke's. Time seem to go by fast for Rory as she began to unpack and settle in. Lorelai came home around five, as promised, with lots of decorations and supplies for the party.

"Rory, come help me get all of this stuff out of the bags." Lorelai shouted from the kitchen.

"Whoa, you really are having a party." Rory said as she saw the kitchen table covered in bags.

"Well nothing is too much for my only daughter. Sookie should be here soon, she's going to start cooking so that everything is ready in time for the party."

"Great. So about earlier, you never finished telling me what happened with Lindsay."

"Oh, yeah that. Well Lindsay moved away to avoid having Dean involved with Gavin. Just shortly after Gavin turned two Lindsay was in a terrible car accident, she died later at the hospital. Gavin at the time was staying with Lindsay's parents. After everything happened, Lindsay's mom became Gavin's legal guardian."

"So how did Dean find out about Gavin?"

"A few weeks after the accident Lindsay's mom was sorting some of her things and found a note that she had written to Dean, she was going to tell him about Gavin. So she decided to finish what she started and called Dean. Dean and Gavin hit it off right away; when they saw how much they bonded they allowed Dean to have custody. Of course they still have visiting rights."

"I still can't believe she kept this from him. Dean and I had already broken up by the time Gavin was born. Didn't Lindsay realize that?"

"She probably didn't know but it more than likely wouldn't have changed things, she had already moved to Massachusetts."

"How do you know so much about all of this?"

"Well mostly from Dean. Luke and I have Dean and Gavin over for dinner every once in while, I mean it's just the two of them and Dean's culinary skills aren't much better than mine."

"Yeah I've never seen Dean and Luke get along as well as they did today in the diner."

"Well after everything happened Luke and Dean found that they had a lot in common. Luke was in a similar situation with April only he didn't find out until she was much older."

"How is April? It's been a while since I've seen her."

"She's good. Still in high school but she is applying to the same colleges that you did."

"She's a really smart girl, I'm sure she will be able to go wherever she chooses."

"Oh and speaking of smart kids, did you get a chance to talk to Gavin?"

"Yeah I did actually. Very impressed." Rory was silent for a while as she unpacked some bags. "So has Dean been seeing anyone or when you say it's just him and Gavin it really is just him and Gavin?"

Lorelai smiled as she had her back turned towards Rory. "Why do you ask?" She said turning around with a normal face.

"Just wondering."

"Well as far as I know he hasn't been seeing anyone. You want me to ask around?" Lorelai asked in a goofy way.

"No, it's not that important."

Rory brushed off the conversation acting as if it didn't really matter what the answer would have been. Lorelai played along with the act knowing exactly what Rory had meant by the comment.

Sookie arrived as they finished unloading all of the bags and began to cook while Lorelai and Rory decorated. Guests began to arrive around 6:45 and Rory answered the door.

"Rory, I thought this was going to be a surprise party? Why are you answering the door?"

"Well now it's just a welcome home party. I got home early and ruined mom's plans. It's good to see you Patty." Rory said reaching out for a hug.

"Yes, I'm so glad you're home. Oh, Rory I read your book, you portrayed me well. And I have to ask, are some of the situations fiction or is everything based on actual occurrences with the author?"

"I like to leave that up to the imagination of the reader. Besides I think you already know the answer to your question."

"You may have changed the names in your story to cover up things, but now that two people are back in town together again, I'm going to have to start locking up the studio when I'm away."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Mom, Miss Patty's here."

"Hey Patty, thanks for coming. Can you believe it, Rory is home?" Lorelai said jumping up and down.

"Yes, I was just telling her how excited I was that she was home to get inspiration for the sequel to her novel."

The doorbell rang again and Babette and Maury were at the door. At this point guest began to show up one by one filing into the living room where the girls had decorated. It was shortly after seven and everyone who Lorelai had mentioned to Rory earlier had already shown up. Rory was helping Lane pick out CDs to play when the doorbell rang again.

"Rory, could you see who that is? I have to help Sookie with something in the kitchen." Lorelai said making an excuse for Rory to answer the door.

"Sure mom."

Rory opened the door and was more then surprised to see Dean and Gavin standing there. All she could seem to do was smile.

"Sorry we're late. We just got back from the museum." Dean said explaining.

"That's okay, you didn't miss much. I'm sure Miss Patty and Babette would be willing to sing Karaoke to "Wild Thing" for you again if you ask though."

"Okay forget what I said before, I'm glad we're late."

"Come on in. Did you have fun at the museum Gavin?"

"Yes, the dinosaurs started on the first floor but you could still see their heads when you get to the fourth floor."

"Wow that sounds really cool, I'll have to go see that soon."

"I'll go back with you, if you are scared of dinosaurs?"

"Well that sounds like a plan. I'm going to hold you to that."

Gavin looked up at Dean and smiled realizing he had just bought himself another ticket to the museum.

"If you two are hungry, Sookie has cooked so much food. I'll show you where everything is."

Dean and Gavin followed Rory into the kitchen where Lorelai and Sookie were still talking.

"Mom, look who's here."

"Gavin and Dean, I'm glad you two could make it on such short notice."

"Yeah of course, thanks for inviting us. Who wouldn't want to celebrate Rory being back in Stars Hollow?"

"My thoughts exactly, Rory just doesn't realize how much she is loved and missed around here. Sookie can you help me carry these trays into the living room?"

Sookie and Lorelai retreated to the living room leaving Rory, Dean and Gavin alone in the kitchen.

"So how was your first day back home?"

"Well this party is the highlight. I mainly stuck around the house today and unpacked."

"It really is good to see you again. After you became the big shot writer, I was beginning to wonder if I ever would again."

"Did you read the book?" Rory asked curiously.

"What do you think? Of course I read your book. I found that I had a lot in common with one of the characters." He said smiling.

"Yeah funny thing, everyone seems to think they have a connection with the book somehow."

"Can't imagine why they would think that."

"Okay, I'm done. Can I go sing Karaoke with Miss Patty now?" Gavin asked standing from his seat.

"Yeah, go ahead." Gavin exited the room in a hurry. "He doesn't realize it yet, but he is going to crash any minute now."

Rory sat down at the table with Dean. "My mom told me about what happened. About Lindsay's accident and you not finding out about Gavin until afterwards. I feel so bad about everything; I just can't help but think that if I hadn't of pursued a relationship with you that this wouldn't have happened."

"I don't blame you, like I said before things happen for a reason. I still believe that."

"Does he remember Lindsay?"

"Not really, he was so young when everything happened. He knows the truth though, believe me he will not let anyone in the same car as him ride without their seatbelt on. I don't like to talk about it though whenever it's possible for him to overhear, he gets really upset." Dean said hoping Rory would understand.

"So are you planning a birthday party for him?"

"I was planning on doing something small. Maybe even take him someplace he's been wanting to go for a while."

"You should give him a party. We can invite everyone and Sookie could make him a cake and I'm sure…"

"Wait. Did you say we?"

"Well yeah, I wouldn't mind helping you. I think it would be fun."

"When are you going to find time to do all of this? I thought you came home to write."

"I did but I also came home to live. If I wanted to be inspired by four walls and a computer I could have stayed in LA. Dean come on; let me help you do this?"

"Fine, WE will plan a party."

"Yes, oh I already know the theme, Dinosaurs." Rory said grinning.

"Sounds perfect."

Gavin came running back into the kitchen. "Rory, come on I want you to sing with us." He said pulling on her arm.

"Okay, I'm coming." She said quickly getting up and following his lead to the living room.

Dean followed close behind just in time to catch the performance. Amazed at how Rory and Gavin got along so well, he smiled. His smile slowly faded away when he realized that because they got along so well there was no way there could ever be anything between them again except a friendship. There was no way he was going to risk having his son suffer another loss if Rory changed her mind again.


	3. Chapter 3

Only a few days had passed since Rory arrived back home but after a few days of catching up it was as if she had never left. The town and those who lived in it were exactly the same. Although there were a few minor things that had changed such as: new street lamps, Kirk had finally married Lulu, and then that one other minor detail of Dean being a father.

Dean and Gavin had gone to Massachusetts for a couple of days to visit Lindsay's parents. Rory almost unknowingly had been counting down the hours until their return. Keeping busy though she began to plan the party for Gavin. Once she was in front of the computer everything just seemed to fall right into place. Finding a party company who sold dinosaur theme birthday kits-she ordered a sample of everything and had it sent to her overnight to ensure she would have everything when they returned. Just as she was gathering all of the birthday supplies into a box Lorelai stepped into her room.

"I know someone who has a crush on somebody." Lorelai teased.

"Be quiet, I do not. I'm just excited to show Dean and Gavin all of these cool party decorations."

"You're in such denial. Just admit it you've missed them. They have been gone for two days and you can't stop thinking about when they will finally get back home."

"Alright fine I'll admit it, I miss them. But you know what's weird?"

"What?"

"I've missed Gavin even more then I've missed Dean. The two of us get along so well, and that's even weirder. I've never been one to get along that well with young kids, I mean I like them and all but I like knowing that I can hand them back to their parents at any time. But Gavin is different; he is so much fun to be around."

"Gavin is an exceptional child. Paul Anka even approves. So what time are they supposed to be getting back?"

"Anytime now, they are coming by here to get me, then we are going to Luke's for dinner and to discuss the party."

"Okay before they get here, it's time to get serious. And don't blow this off like you always do when the subject comes up; just be honest about what you are thinking as soon as I ask the question. Do you agree to these rules?"

"Okay."

"Do you still love Dean?"

Unlike what she had promised her mom she stayed quiet not knowing quite sure how to answer the question. Just as she was about to find the words she was going to say the doorbell rang.

"Well I guess you were saved by the bell, but just so you know I take that awkward silence as a yes until told otherwise."

"Mom, please don't make this out to be something big. I really don't know how I feel right now. The last thing I expected to happen when I came back home was to fall back in love with Dean as well as Gavin. I'm still trying to figure things out myself so please don't push this."

The doorbell rang again.

"Okay, go. You wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

Rory practically ran to the door to make up for the time it took her to get there in the first place. She opened the door revealing Dean standing alone.

"Hey. I'm sorry I'm late. Gavin wanted to stay a few extra days with his grandparents. It was hard to leave him; I tried to stay with him as long as I could."

"Oh, I thought that you would both be coming back today." Rory said disappointed.

"Yeah, we were supposed to but he wanted to stay a little while longer."

"Dean you could have stayed with him if you wanted to. We can always do this later; you should have called and told me."

"To be honest it's really strange hanging out with Lindsay's parents, I was ready to get out of there, I just wasn't ready to leave him there. Besides we have plans."

"Okay well since you are here we may as well plan the party. I guess I was just hoping that Gavin could help. I think he is just going to love these decorations."

"Well I was thinking that we could surprise him instead. He doesn't know about the party yet, if he did he would have come home to help. But I figure we should take advantage of his absence and surprise him."

"Surprise party it is then."

"Rory, can I talk to you in the kitchen for a sec before you leave?" Lorelai shouted.

"I'll be right back."

"I'll be here." Dean said taking the box of decorations from Rory's hands.

Rory walked into the kitchen to find a very anxious Lorelai.

"What is it?" Rory asked.

"He's alone. Now is your chance to find out. Without Gavin around it will be a lot easier. Dean has the right idea; didn't he say something about taking advantage of his absence?"

"Mom, we are going to Luke's to talk about a surprise birthday party. What exactly do you think is going to happen?"

"Maybe the two of you could make a pit stop at Miss Patty's studio. Oh and by the way, I don't appreciate having to read about that. You should have told me when it happened."

"I don't have time for this right now. I have to go."

"Fine, if you continue to ignore this perfect situation you've found yourself in I may be forced to take matters into my own hands."

"Bye mom." Rory said annoyed.

Rory met Dean standing on the porch waiting patiently.

"Sorry about that."

"No problem, is everything okay with Lorelai?"

"Yeah everything is fine. She's just trying to amuse herself lately. Where is your truck?"

"At home, I decided to walk here instead."

"Oh okay. Well I have good news for you then…

"What's that?"

"You get to carry the box the whole way to Luke's."

"I kind of already made that assumption."

They began there five minute walk to Luke's.

"So how was your trip to Massachusetts?"

"Same as usual, I dread it but I have to pretend to have a good time so Gavin doesn't realize. If he knew that I didn't like going he would refuse to go back."

"So he really falls for that? Gavin just don't seem like the kind of kid who you could get something passed him like that."

"Let's just say I do a really good job of pretending. It's important for him to know them, and I want him to know them. It's just hard for me to be around them sometimes, I feel like they are still mad about what happened between me and Lindsay."

"Well that is understandable Dean. Sometimes when I think about what happened back then I can't understand how things went so wrong. I mean really, you hadn't even been married for a year. What were we thinking?"

"I was thinking that I still loved you and I was also realizing that I had never stopped loving you. And even though it didn't last between us, if I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't change a thing. Did you ever regret it?"

"No I don't. I never did."

They stopped in front of the door of Luke's and Dean held it open allowing Rory to enter first. They sat in the corner table by the door and Luke walked up shortly after.

"What can I get the two of you?" Luke asked already beginning to pour Rory her coffee.

"Coffee is good for me." Rory said.

"Yeah, I'll just have a cup of coffee for now too."

"So that's it. The two of you are going to sit in here and drink nothing but coffee taking up a four top table while planning a party?"

"Yeah that's the plan. Hey, how did you know we were planning a party?"

"Oh, well Lorelai mentioned it."

"When did she mention it?"

"She called a few minutes ago, told me you two were on the way here to plan a party for Gavin."

"She is ruthless."

Luke walked away from their table to greet another customer. Tables began to fill up rather fast. Which was odd, never had Rory remembered Luke's being this crowded at this point in the day.

"Are you okay? You seem distracted." Dean asked Rory.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just…"

"What?"

"Well I haven't been home that long, but is this normal? I mean Luke's being this busy at this point in the day? I can't ever remember Luke having a wait for tables right now."

"No, you're right. I've never seen it like this either."

"Well I guess we should get started." Rory said.

Just as she was about to pull out the first of the decorations from the box the bell above the door rang again. Signaling the entrance of Kirk, Miss Patty, Taylor, Sookie, Jackson, April and many other fellow towns' people followed close behind.

"Okay what is going on?" Rory asked Dean.

"I have no idea."

Kirk walked up to Rory and Dean's table shortly after scanning the crowd.

"Are the two of you going to be much longer? Because if you are done with your COFFEE there are other people who would like to sit at this table for dinner."

"Well actually Kirk we just got here, we are trying to plan Gavin's birthday party."

"That's terrific, but don't you think it would make more sense to plan this party in the comfort of your home, considering there are lots of people patiently waiting for this table?"

"Go away Kirk." Dean said sternly so he wouldn't have to repeat himself.

Kirk got the hint very quickly and went to take a seat at the counter. Just as they began to start talking about the party again Miss Patty walked up to the table.

"Well if it isn't Dean and Rory. It's always fun to watch the beginning of young romance transpire."

"No Miss Patty, Dean and I are just planning Gavin's birthday party."

"Yes, I see that. Do you think you will be done with the table soon? There are an awful lot of people waiting to have a seat and well this is a diner, not really a place to plan a party. If the two of you don't have anywhere else to go, you're always welcome to use my studio. Oh but the two of you already knew that though, didn't you?" Miss Patty said with a huge grin on her face.

Rory looked over at Dean who now had his face buried into his hands.

"Rory, maybe we should just go to my place. We clearly are not going to be able to get anything done here." Dean said standing from the table.

Rory quickly followed his lead and gathered the few things they had managed to get out of the box and put them back inside. Dean picked up the box and walked towards the door, before Rory followed him she went back up to the counter to talk to Luke before they left.

"Since you and my mom seem to be communicating so well in the past hour could you let her know that payback will not be pretty? And tell her not to even think about trying to deny that she was the mastermind behind this little charade." Rory whispered to Luke from across the counter.

"Sure, she is due to call back any minute now anyway to make sure her little scheme worked."

"Goodbye Luke." Rory walked away from the counter and met Dean outside.


	4. Chapter 4

"So this is where you live now." Rory said stepping into the house Dean had brought her to.

"Yeah, it's not huge but it's plenty big enough for me and Gavin."

"I like it, it's really nice."

"Thanks. So you want to go through the decorations on the kitchen table or in the living room?"

"Let's try the living room."

Dean led the way and made room on the floor by moving some of Gavin's toys to the side.

"Thanks for doing this. It really means a lot to me and its going to mean even more to Gavin when he finds out about the party."

"Sure, I think this is fun. It was my idea remember?"

"Yeah I know. I guess I'm just not used to anyone helping. It's just been the two of us since he came into my life."

"I really don't mind. It's funny actually I was telling mom earlier how I couldn't wait to show Gavin all of this and when I opened the door and he wasn't with you I was really disappointed."

"The two of you really did hit it off didn't you?"

"Yeah we did." Rory said looking up at Dean and smiling.

Dean found himself staring back. Their eyes met and it was like they could both read each other's thoughts. Dean looked back at the box breaking the stare.

"So what are the options?"

Rory was quiet for a second trying to understand what had happened. "Well…there are three different dinosaur patterns. We have cartoon dinosaurs, various real dinosaurs, and the famous Jurassic Park dinosaurs. And that is the one that gets my vote because we could end the night with the movie."

"Okay so explain to me exactly why I needed to be involved in the planning process here? I mean you've already thought of everything. It's a good thing too because I suck at planning parties."

"Well you still have to approve of everything. We also still have to decide on where we are going to have the party and exactly what date as well."

"I kind of assumed we would just do it on his actual birthday, it is a Saturday. As for the place I have no idea."

"How about Miss Patty's? It's perfect; we'll even be able to set up a movie screen inside."

"You think she would mind?"

"Just leave Miss Patty to me; I can take care of her."

"Alright so Jurassic Park theme birthday party at Miss Patty's on May 17. Do I have all the facts straight so far?"

"Sounds like a perfect plan. Now we just have to make sure no one talks about the party around Gavin."

"In that case maybe it should just be a surprise party for everyone in town."

"You know when I came back home after being away I figured people would have changed but everyone is exactly the same. That stunt earlier in the diner just goes to show how involved everyone in town is with every person here."

"What stunt in the diner?"

"Oh I thought you got the hint too. Everything was arranged earlier, everyone was just trying to make us leave so we could go somewhere a little more private and alone."

"Are you serious? They think we're going to get back together?"

"Yeah well I guess so."

"The people in this town get crazier everyday." Dean said getting up off the floor and walking into the kitchen.

Rory thought for a second about how Dean had reacted and followed him into the kitchen.

"I'll have to agree with you, the people here are crazy but they mean well. I mean is it really that unbelievable to think that the two of us could get back together?"

"Well yeah, it isn't very likely after everything that's happened. We both lead very different lives now. We've both grown up and I just think it's best to just be friends. Don't you agree?"

"At the risk of losing my friendship with you, no Dean I don't agree with that."

"What? Rory, I don't understand you didn't…

"Why does everything have to be figured out right away? I mean yes I want to be friends but I don't want to put boundaries on it. If things change between us and we start to have feelings for each other again I think we should be honest about it."

"I don't think you understand, I do and always will have feelings for you Rory…I love you. But it's not just about me anymore. Any choice I make in my life involves Gavin now and I'm going to always have to put him first."

"I still love you too Dean…and Gavin is an amazing kid. I understand that he is the most important person in your life but that doesn't mean you can shut everyone else out. Please don't give up on us. I understand if you need some time but don't close the door forever."

"I don't need time, I would love for you to be a permanent part of mine and Gavin's life but it's just too big of a risk to take. You'll never stay; this world isn't enough for you. And I can't blame you for wanting to live your life."

"Dean I've already done that. I left and I became a writer and it was amazing to see my name on the cover but nothing compared to the feeling I got when I found out I could move back home and still have that. This is where I want to be, this is my home." She said as she moved closer to him.

"You have no idea how much I want to believe you Rory." Also moving closer as he spoke.

"Please trust me Dean." Their lips barely touching as she said his name.

Giving in to her he let his guard down and became fully embraced into their kiss. She could tell it had been a while since Dean had done anything like this and noticed she would have to be the one to make the next step. Not knowing quite sure where his room was located she began to walk herself as well as Dean toward the hallway hoping he would catch on and lead her to the bedroom. The plan worked and Dean soon took charge taking off her sweater as they made their way down the hall, which she quickly responded to by peeling his button down shirt off as well. Once they were inside the bedroom she quickly fell back onto the bed causing them to break apart from their kiss.

"Are you sure about this?" Dean asked with hope in his eyes.

"Positive." Rory answered before continuing their kiss.

The phone began to ring but it didn't seem to affect either of them until it stopped ringing and began ringing once again.

"Maybe you should get that. It could be important."

"They can leave a message." Dean said as he continued kissing her neck.

Just as they got back to where they left off Dean's cell phone began ringing.

"Dean just see who it is, there could be an emergency."

Dean let out a huge groan of disappoint but knew she was right to make sure. As he reached for the cell phone he saw the number and immediately picked up.

"Theresa, is everything okay?" He asked almost breathless.

"Dean you have to get here right away. Gavin was playing near the top of the stairs and he fell. We are at the hospital."

"What's the name of the hospital?"


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as Rory heard the word hospital she sat up in bed and quickly gathered her clothes putting them back on.

"I'll be right there; if they let you see him let him know that I'm on my way."

Dean hung up the phone and quickly began to look for his clothes that were strewn from the bed to the hallway. Putting on each piece as he found it, he turned back to Rory. He almost didn't even need to tell her what happened. When she noticed his watery eyes she knew something was really wrong and an even better idea of who.

"It's Gavin isn't it? What happened…is he okay?"

"They said he was playing at the top of the stairs and somehow he fell. All Theresa knows is that he broke his arm. They haven't told her if there were any other injuries yet."

"I'm going with you to see him."

"You don't have to Rory."

"I know, but I want to. Do you realize how worried I would be if I went home and had to wait for you to call me to tell me how he is?"

"Alright…okay well we should get going. It's sort of a long trip."

"I'm ready, let's go."

Dean gathered a few things and they were out the door. The first half hour of the trip was silent. Rory wasn't sure if Dean would want to hear someone at this point or if he would rather just be left alone. So after trying the silence for a while she decided to try to talk to him.

"He's going to be okay you know?"

Rory reached out for Dean's hand and squeezed it for reassurance.

He turned and looked at her for the first time since they got into the truck. "I know."

Both of them were silent again but Dean's hand remained clasped with Rory's. A few minutes later Dean spoke again startling Rory as she was becoming used to the silence.

"Thank you for coming with me."

"Of course Dean, you do realize I would have refused to stay?"

"Yeah I'm starting to get that vibe."

"If you want me to drive for a while, I can. Maybe you could take a nap before we get to the hospital…you look exhausted."

"I'll be okay. I've just had a long and unusual day is all. And at this point it doesn't seem like it's going to end anytime soon."

"Dean…"

"Yeah?"

"I meant what I said earlier. I want to be with you…and Gavin."

"I know Rory. And I want to be with you too but I just realized that I can't make that decision on my own. I have to talk to Gavin before I can commit to anything."

"Oh okay." She let go of his hand and rested her head on her jacket that she placed against the window. Not knowing what else to say without making things worse she simply closed her eyes and fell asleep in minutes.

Dean shook Rory to try to wake her. "Rory wake up…"

"Are we here?" She asked groggily.

"Yeah, we're here. Let's go inside."

Rory stepped out of the truck in a hurry trying to keep up with Dean who had almost made his way to her side of the truck by now. As soon as her feet hit the ground she let out a small scream and fell down. Dean quickly rushed over to her to pick her up.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"My foot is asleep…I didn't realize it until I put my weight on it."

Dean tried to hide the fact that he was laughing at what she had done but she saw right through it causing him to break into laughter.

"Not funny. It hurts…its starting to tingle."

"Come on, we need to get inside. Just lean on me until it wakes up."

Rory did as she was told and she and Dean walked into the hospital and found the information desk in the ER.

"Can I help you?" The nurse asked looking up at them.

"Yeah I'm looking for Gavin Forester's room. I'm his father."

"Is she okay? Honey do you need to see a doctor?" The nurse asked Rory watching as she was still leaning on one foot.

"Oh no…it's my foot, it fell asleep on the way here, long drive."

"Alright…Gavin should be in room 187. He is being prepared for release."

"He can go home tonight?"

"Yes, he is going to be fine. Go on down there the doctor will explain everything to you."

"Did you hear that Rory? We can take Gavin home, he's okay."

"Yeah I…" Dean's lips prevented any further words from coming out of her mouth as he kissed her.

"Let's go get him." Dean said smiling.

Grabbing Rory by the hand they hurried to his room. They found Lindsay's parents, Gavin and the doctor talking behind a white curtain.

"Daddy?" Gavin screamed at the site of Dean walking into the room.

"Hey buddy, what exactly did you do here? I mean breaking your arm right before your birthday…you're not going to be able to eat cake as fast now."

"That's okay. This is cooler…the doctor said that everyone can sign my cast and when he takes it off I'll be able to keep it."

Dean and Gavin were so busy talking and catching each other up neither of them realized that Theresa and Rory seemed to be having a staring match. Not once did Rory think about what she was getting herself into, of course these people still hated her. She was responsible for ruining their daughter's marriage.

"Rory, why did you come to the hospital? Did my dad call and tell you I was hurt?"

Rory smiled. "Yeah he did Gavin. I was really worried about you."

"Dean, can we talk to you outside of the room for a minute?" Theresa asked as she and her husband made their way to the hallway.

"Yeah okay, I'll be right back."

"I'm glad you came Rory. I was hoping you could be the first person to sign my cast."

"I would be honored too. But we should wait until we get back home to do it because then we can take our time and pick out the perfect spot."

Meanwhile in the hallway…

"What were you thinking bringing her here? She should have no place in my Grandson's life."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, when we allowed you to have custody of Gavin you told us you were no longer with the home wrecker."

"First of all she's not a home wrecker and second I wasn't with her when I received custody of Gavin and you know that."

"Dean do you ever learn from your mistakes? How many times has that girl promised you the world and gave it all away as soon as the next opportunity came along? You gave up your marriage for her and how does she repay you?"

"I didn't give up my marriage for her. Mine and Lindsay's marriage had been over a long time before Rory and I were together. You can't blame her for this now, what happened between Lindsay and I was our fault for getting married to young."

"How long have you been seeing each other? Gavin seems to know her well."

"Not for long, she just moved back to town recently. But none of this matters if I want to be with Rory and if I want Gavin to know her that is my business. You have no say in the matter."

"We'll see about that." She said coldly.

"Gavin is coming home with me tonight. He won't be staying over at your house alone anymore. You obviously can't watch him well enough."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"You let him fall down the stairs and break his arm. What the hell was he doing playing at the top of the stairs in the first place?"

"Dean this was an accident. You know we would never let anything happen to Gavin."

"Then why did you?" He didn't wait for an answer to his question instead he went back into the room to find Gavin and Rory laughing.

"What's so funny?" Dean asked.

"Rory told me about falling out of the car when you got here because her foot was asleep."

"You're right that is funny. You should have seen it happen, it was even funnier. So who's ready to go home?"

Gavin and Rory both raised their hand only staring back at Dean with a smile.

"Well then let's get out of here."

They all walked to the car together, all three now much happier then they were going inside the building.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I tried to write this on Sunday night after I got home from a One Tree Hill charity event unfortunately I was more concerned about editing the pictures I took there instead. I finally got to meet Mark Schwahn (creator of OTH) and it was a great experience. He is an amazing writer and an extremely nice guy. Anyways from here I've got good news and bad. First the good…I know exactly where this story is going and I even know exactly what the last scene of it will be. (LOL, as ASP has always said about Gilmore Girls). The bad news is it will take a turn for the worst, as of now I'm shooting for it to be more of a sad ending and it will be a while before I'm able to finish it so you will just have to stick with it. Sorry to those of you who wanted a happy ending but if it makes you feel any better you can blame Mark Schwahn—master of drama/suspense.

They arrived back at Dean's house late that night, it wouldn't be long before some people in Star's Hollow would be waking up for the day. Rory helped Dean get Gavin and all of his belongings into the house.

"Well I should get home, it's late." Rory said putting his backpack onto the couch.

"No Rory, you can't leave yet. You still have to sign my cast. You said that you would when we got back home."

"I did say that, didn't I?"

"I think I recall you saying something around those lines as I walked out of Gavin's room earlier." Dean said helping his son.

"Somebody better get me a marker then."

"I'll be right back." Dean said walking down the hallway.

Dean disappeared into the bedroom for a few minutes and while he was gone Rory and Gavin sat comfortably on the couch talking to each other. When he returned he stopped just before entering the room to observe them before he interrupted their conversation. He wasn't able to eavesdrop long before Rory spotted him.

"Here's a permanent marker." He said finally making his way into the living room with them.

"Thanks." Rory said a little awkwardly as she and Dean looked each other in the eye as she took the marker.

Dean took a seat in a nearby chair and watched as Rory began to sign and doodle on Gavin's cast.

"How's that?" Rory asked as she finished.

"Wow, that's cool. Look Daddy, Rory drew a dinosaur too."

"You sure that's a dinosaur?" Dean asked looking at the drawing Rory had attempted.

"Yeah I'm sure."

"Thank you Gavin."

Gavin turned back to smile at Rory but his smile quickly turned into a yawn.

"Somebody should be in bed." Dean said also noticing the yawn.

"Okay I'll go to bed. Will you be here when I wake up tomorrow Rory?"

"Oh well Gavin I should go back home. But maybe I can come back in the morning and see you then."

"Why don't you just stay here with us? Daddy says it's not safe to be out this late and you don't have a car here. You would have to walk home and it's not safe."

"Yeah, you've already mentioned that once. But Gavin you don't have any extra rooms. There is no where for me to sleep."

"You can sleep with me in my bed." Gavin offered.

"Gavin your bed is too small especially now that you have a broken arm. You're going to need all of the room on your bed to yourself." Dean explained to him.

"Well your bed is really big; you and Rory will have plenty of room in your bed."

"If you really do want me to stay, I can just sleep on the couch Gavin."

"You're not going to like sleeping on the couch. It's very uncomfortable."

"You are wise beyond your years."

"Okay Gavin you go into your room and get into bed. Rory can sleep in my bed, I promise she we'll be here when you wake up tomorrow."

"Okay." He said happily.

"I'll be in there in a minute to tuck you in."

"Alright." He yelled back.

"You've officially been shanghaied. How does it feel?"

"Dean if you don't want me to stay I don't have to. I really don't mind walking home. I know this is awkward."

"No, don't even worry about it. Besides I've already promised him you would be here in the morning when he woke up. You wouldn't want to disappoint him would you?"

Rory didn't answer the question right away but realized what Dean really meant by the question. "No, I wouldn't want to disappoint him, ever."

"If you want you can go ahead and make yourself comfortable. I have to make sure he is okay for the night before I get to bed myself. You know where the bedroom is right?" Dean asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I think I remember my way there."

While Dean was tucking Gavin in Rory made her way into the bedroom. Slipping into the bed she cursed herself for not wearing something more comfortable and relaxing that day. Dean walked into the bedroom a few minutes later. He managed an awkward smile at the sight of Rory under the covers.

"Are you comfortable?"

"Actually, not really."

"Oh, well what's wrong?"

"I just wish I would have worn something else today. I wasn't planning on sleeping in this."

Dean pulled a t-shirt and shorts out of the dresser drawer.

"Here, put these on." Dean said sliding into bed on the other side.

"Thanks."

Rory sat up straight in bed and pulled her old top over her head quickly catching Dean's attention.

"What are you doing?" Dean said sounding upset.

"Changing."

"Right here on the bed. The door is open."

Rory quickly pulled the t-shirt over her head to cover herself. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking."

She went into the bathroom to finish changing into the shorts he had loaned her. When she returned to the bed Dean had his eyes shut and appeared to be asleep. Carefully she climbed back into bed trying not to disturb Dean.

"Sorry about yelling earlier. I was just caught off guard when you started changing right here."

"It's okay; I shouldn't have done something so stupid."

"It wasn't stupid Rory. What the hell is wrong with me? Instead of just shutting up like a normal guy and watching you undress I yell at you for changing in my bed."

"What? Dean what are you talking about? What's going on?"

"I love Gavin more then anything in the world and I would never give him up for anything but sometimes I wish that I could still have a life too. But then I realize how unrealistic that is."

"Why is it unrealistic?"

"Because I can't ask someone else to give up their life for a child that isn't theirs. And because as much as I want to believe her, the person I want to spend the rest of my life with will never spend the rest of her life in the town of Stars Hollow."

"Dean I told you I'm here now. What do I have to do to prove it to you?"

"I don't think there is anything that you can do, because I know what your dreams are Rory and this is not even close."

"Dean things are different now. I've already accomplished so many of the things that I wanted to do. Maybe after spending three years alone my dreams have changed."

"Rory I'm exhausted. Can we talk about this tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure. We'll talk about it tomorrow."

Even though she was equally as exhausted as Dean had been Rory stayed awake for a while longer thinking about what he had said to her. When she finally did close her eyes she fell asleep right away.


	7. Chapter 7

"Rory…wake up." Gavin said as he shook her slightly to wake her.

It took her a second to remember where she was, even though she had only been asleep now for a few hours.

"Gavin, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"I had a bad dream. Can I sleep with you and daddy?"

"I guess so. Do you normally sleep in your dad's bed when you have a bad dream?" Rory asked him as she looked over her shoulder to see if Dean had heard any of their conversation but he was still fast asleep.

"Sometimes if it's a really bad dream." Gavin managed to get out in between sobs as his crying seized.

Rory scooted over towards the middle of the bed to make room for Gavin on the end so he would have enough space for his broken arm.

"Are you comfortable or do you need more room?"

"No this is good. Thanks Rory."

"Okay…if you need anything else I'll be asleep. So you will just have to wake me up again." She said trying to be humorous but failing at it at such a late hour.

Just as she finished her sentence she realized that wouldn't be a problem considering he himself had nearly fallen back asleep already.

THE NEXT MORNING

Dean woke up at 10:30 to find Rory nearly on top of him. Unable to move without waking her in the process he decided to do so gently.

"Rory? Hey...wake up."

When she woke up this time she didn't need to think about where she was. She had almost expected it to be Gavin when she opened her eyes but ended up staring back at Dean sleepily.

"Sorry I didn't want to wake you but my arm is sort of under you and I need to get up and check on Gavin."

"Sshhh, he's still sleeping" She said as she pointed behind her.

Dean finally noticed Gavin sleeping on the other side of Rory.

"What happened, why is he in here?"

"He had a bad dream last night and asked if he could sleep with us."

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Well we all had a really long night and since Gavin woke me up first I figured there wasn't any reason to wake you too. Everything was fine, he went back to sleep almost right away."

"Alright." Dean said a little apprehensive.

"Dean are you upset about this?"

"No, I just wish that you would have woken me up too is all."

"Well I'm sorry, next time I promise to wake you too."

"Next time?"

"Yeah next time."

Dean's eyes moved from Rory's as he saw Gavin begin to move behind her.

"Hey buddy, I heard you had a rough night last night."

"You told him?" Gavin asked Rory.

"Yeah, he wanted to know why you were sleeping in here so I told him about your dream."

"Oh." Gavin said disappointed. "I'm going to go back to my room and go back to sleep."

Dean and Rory both watched as Gavin left the room without saying another word.

"What just happened? He's mad at me right?" Rory asked Dean.

"You kind of told on him. He doesn't like for me to know when he is scared, he tried to hide it. This is probably why he came to you last night instead of me."

"You could have shared this information with me earlier. Now both of the Forester men are mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you. And Gavin won't be either once he wakes up. He'll forget all about it."

"That's good." Rory sat up in bed allowing Dean to move freely since Gavin had cleared her original spot on the bed. "I guess I should get going. I never called my mom last night she is probably worried."

"I doubt it." Dean said with a smile.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well last night your mom did all but push us into bed together. I'm sure she thinks you ended up taking her advice last night."

"How did you…"

"When your mom's excited about something her voice carries and gets louder even when she doesn't mean for it to. I heard what she said to you in the kitchen last night."

"But you were on the porch when I came back."

"Yeah well it was a little awkward hearing that and I kind of just wanted to pretend I didn't at least at the moment I did."

"You do realize that had nothing to do with me and that my mom should be medicated. I mean right before you got there she was asking all these questions about you and Gavin and how I…."

"Rory its okay, you don't have to explain. Remember I know Lorelai too. And besides she was right, I mean if Gavin hadn't of gotten hurt last night we would have taken advantage of his absence."

"Yeah…but that doesn't mean she's not embarrassing."

Rory looked at Dean smiling. He didn't say a word and his facial expression didn't give away anything either.

"What are you doing tonight, do you have plans already?" Dean asked out of nowhere.

"No, I just figured I would hang out with mom."

"Well I was sort of thinking that Gavin and Lorelai could hang out tonight and the two of us could go to dinner alone. What do you think?"

"I think that's a great idea." She said softly as she found herself moving closer to Dean once again.

"Would you still be here right now if we would have gone through with what we started last night?"

"Dean you know I would be. I told you I'm here to stay and I will prove that to you if it takes me living with my mom for the next five years."

"I think three would probably be enough." He said laughing at her.

"Shutup and kiss me Dean."

He laughed at her once again before finally pulling her back on top of him and kissing her the way he had been waiting to since the night she walked out of her grandparents' house. He wanted her but at that point knew she wasn't his to have anymore.

Both of them were so engaged in one another neither of them noticed Gavin peeking into the doorway and smiling back at the sight of them kissing.

_Next Chapter: Lorelai demands details of the previous night from Rory, and Dean and Rory finally get to be alone (well at least for dinner) and while they are gone Gavin tells Lorelai a secret. _


	8. Chapter 8

Rory opened the door to her house quietly hoping not to get the attention of her mother if she was still home. She managed to get inside and turned to face the door to close it as easily as she had opened it.

"Caught ya." Lorelai shouted from behind her.

Rory jumped and turned to face Lorelai. "Gosh you scared me."

"Well do you have any idea what time it is missy?"

"I'd guess around noon."

"You guess right. And what exactly do you think you are doing sneaking in at this hour?"

"It's the afternoon, what do you mean by this hour?"

"Hey don't you get smart with me, you know exactly what I mean. I want details…"

"Alright fine but can I at least take a shower first?"

"You need a shower huh. The two of you got that dirty?"

"Mom please nothing happened." Rory said as she made her way past Lorelai and towards her room.

"What do you mean nothing happened? You spend the entire night alone with Dean in his house and nothing happened…I don't believe you."

"We weren't alone. Last night Gavin fell down the stairs while he was staying at his grandparent's house and he went to the emergency room…"

"Oh my God is he okay?"

"He broke his arm but he's going to be fine. Dean and I drove to get him last night and neither of us got much sleep."

"Where did you sleep?"

"In Dean's bed."

"And what Dean slept on the couch?"

"No he slept in his bed too."

"You slept in the same bed while Gavin was home? That doesn't seem like something Dean would do."

"It's a long story but Gavin slept with us too for the majority of the night anyway."

"Whoa."

"What?"

"Rory that's kind of a big deal; I mean have you and Dean talked about getting back together? This kind of thing can be really confusing for a child."

"I know mom. And yes I think Dean and I might get back together which is why we need you to watch Gavin for us tonight. Dean is taking me out to dinner and we are going to talk."

"Of course, I don't mind watching Gavin."

"Thanks, Dean is going to bring him by around six and we are going to leave from here."

"So how did you like my plan in the diner last night?"

"I had almost forgotten about that little stunt you pulled and now that you reminded me I will have to remember to get you back for that."

"I don't know why you are so mad about it; I mean it worked didn't it?"

"I told you that I wanted to figure everything out on my own, you shouldn't have pushed the issue."

"So did the two of you get Gavin's party planned before he came home?"

"Well sort of, I just told Dean my ideas and he pretty much agreed with everything."

"This is all so exciting."

"Mom it's just a child's birthday party, I mean live a little."

"No I'm not talking about the party, I mean you and Dean getting back together."

"Yeah I'm definitely looking forward to it too." Rory said with a smile.

"For a while there I thought you might end up like me. Waiting forever to get married to the guy you know you belong with."

"Mom we haven't even begun to think about marriage."

"I know that, it's just you said you still loved him and I know he still loves you. Before you moved back home every time someone mentioned your name around him his face would just light up and he asked about you a lot. He was so proud of you when your book finally came out. And that's really what proves that he loves you…all the hell he has taken from the people around Star's Hollow about the book. It's a good thing everyone already knows all of my secrets or I wouldn't like you either."

"What do you mean?"

"Rory come on, every time Miss Patty sees him she makes inappropriate remarks about how the two of you still owe her rent money. Not to mention everyone else in town."

"I feel bad now; I never thought about all of that when I was writing the book but now that I'm back here I know exactly what you mean."

"Yeah well like I said Dean loves you he would forgive you for anything."

"I really hope so."

"Alright I'm going to leave you alone to get ready for tonight, I know it's going to take you hours."

"It is not going to take me hours."

"Hey you know if the two of you want to stay out extra late tonight Gavin could always spend the night here." Lorelai teased Rory.

"Didn't you say that you were leaving?"

6:00 PM

The doorbell rang and Lorelai opened the door revealing Dean and Gavin.

"Hey guys…right on time."

"Yeah sorry I know how the Gilmore Girls need that extra few minutes but Gavin couldn't wait any longer."

"You know us too well Dean. But that's okay I couldn't wait for Gavin to get here either. I'm sure Rory will be ready in a few minutes."

"I have a secret to tell you Lorelai." Gavin chirped into the conversation.

"Ohh well I can't wait to hear it."

"Yeah me neither. He has been saying he has this big secret to tell all day but he says that I'm not allowed to know yet."

"Wow you're keeping it from your dad…now I really want to know what the big secret is. And what exactly happened here?" Lorelai asked pointing at the cast on his arm.

"I fell down the stairs."

"Oh I know that part Rory told me, I was referring to the drawing of the cat. It looks like it was in an accident."

"That's not a cat, it's a dinosaur…Rory drew it for me."

"Well that explains why it looks like a cat."

Dean laughed at the conversation they were having but slowly stopped once he felt the presence of Rory standing near the foyer.

"What is so funny?" Rory asked entering the foyer with them.

"Oh Gavin was just showing me your drawing here."

Rory smiled trying to avoid any further conversation of her drawing skills. Dean took notice of the smile and returned one of his own. Lorelai took notice of the sudden smile exchange and decided to disappear.

"Well the two of you have fun tonight, and remember Gavin and I are fine. If you end up staying out later then expected for whatever reasons Gavin can just spend the night here."

"Yeah, can I just spend the night here anyway? Please…"

"We'll talk about it later Gavin. I'll call and check in on you. And I want you to be really good for Lorelai okay?"

"Alright."

"Let's go Gavin…I have the coolest night planned for us." Lorelai's voice trailed off as the two of them left and went into the kitchen leaving Dean and Rory alone.

"You look amazing."

"Thank you, you know you don't look so bad yourself. So where are we off to tonight?"

"Well it's sort of a surprise."

"Are we still going to dinner?"

"Yes we will eventually eat."

"Eventually huh…sounds like you have something else in mind."

"Maybe I do. You ready to go?"

"Yes please."

Dean opened the door for Rory and they both left the house for their date. Meanwhile in the kitchen Lorelai was making popcorn for her and Gavin. While they waited for it to finish popping Lorelai sat at the table with Gavin.

"So this secret you have…what's it about?"

"My daddy and Rory."

"Oh I see it's not a what it's a who…okay spill it."

"Rory is going to be my new mommy."


	9. Chapter 9

"You know what's funny? I was so worried about how tonight was going to go earlier but now I feel completely comfortable around you." Rory said as they made their way down the road.

"So I had you nervous?"

"Yes you did." She said blushing.

"Good because I was nervous too."

"And now?"

"And now I'm just happy that we are doing this."

"Me too. So where are we going?"

"Well first we are going to a restaurant in Hartford for dinner and after is still a surprise."

"Hartford huh…is it a fancy restaurant?" She asked scooting closer to him in the truck.

"It's a little fancy."

"So then we have a reservation?"

"Yes we do."

"Oh well then nevermind."

"What?"

"Oh nothing, I was just going to get you to pull over for a few minutes but since we have a reservation we can't be late." She said close to his ear as her hand found its way around his thigh.

Dean began to laugh and pulled the truck to the side of the road.

"Wow Dean I didn't think you really had that in you. You do realize I was joking but if you really want to…"

"Rory…as tempting as that sounds we would be late and I pulled over so that you can put your seatbelt back on."

"Right, my seatbelt. Can we pretend the last sentence didn't just come out of my mouth?"

"I can try but no promises."

Rory smiled and quickly went back to her side of the truck and buckled her seatbelt.

"So are we almost there?"

"Yeah it's not too much further."

"Good I'm starving."

"Rory I know we kind of talked about it earlier but I really need to know the truth…are you really going to stay in Stars Hollow? I mean what if your editor or publisher called and told you that you would have to move back to LA, would you go?"

"That's not going to happen Dean."

"But if it did, you would go right?"

"I don't know, I guess it would depend on rather or not I had a better reason to stay."

"What would be a better reason?" Dean asked nervously.

"Well for starters if things didn't work out for me here, then maybe I would leave. Here's my situation: when I moved back to town I ran into someone from my past. Someone I hadn't seen or talked to in a long time but the moment I saw him I knew that I was still in love with this guy. And then I find out that he's a father now and it completely took me by surprise. I was so scared I thought I had lost my chance to be with him AGAIN because if he now had a child it more then likely meant a wife too. You see when we were younger this guy that I loved married another women and I pretended to be happy for them even though it hurt like hell to see them together because I never stopped loving him. I did manage to get him back for a short time though but as our lives went on we separated and didn't see each other again for many years. Over these years I carried the love I had for this guy with me, I even wrote a book about it. And now that I moved back home this guy is in my life again and I don't ever want to say goodbye or miss him again. You see he thinks that I want a different life then him, but what he doesn't know is that I've changed. He doesn't realize that I want the same thing that he does…to be married to him, to start a family and to grow old in this little town I grew up in. And so I guess what I'm trying to ask you is how do you think I should explain my situation to the guy I'm in love with? What could I say to make him trust me again?"

"Well maybe now he knows how you really feel and he is beginning to realize how stupid he was being for not trusting you. But you know what would really help?" Dean asked as they parked at the restaurant.

"What's that?"

"If when he proposed to you, you would say yes."

Before Rory could have a reaction to what he had said he quickly jumped out of the truck and went around to the passenger side to open the door for Rory. Rory smiled as Dean took her hand and led her to the entrance of the restaurant.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes we have a reservation under Forester."

"You can follow me."

She led them through the restaurant and into a secluded room.

"Your server will be right with you."

"Thank you."

The hostess left the room leaving them alone.

"So you know I have to ask. What's with the private room?"

"Well I thought we would need to talk a lot tonight. And I wanted it to just be me and you; it's been a while since we've been alone as a couple."

"A couple?"

"Rory I want things to work. That's the only reason why I was resistant before. You have to know that I love you. I love you so much it scares the hell out of me sometimes. I can't go through losing you again."

"You're not going to lose me again Dean."

There hands met in the middle of the table just as the server came through the door.

Rory watched as the waiter placed the wine and food in front of them without asking any questions. He left just a quickly as he had appeared.

"So how exactly did he know what we wanted already?"

"I told them ahead time, asked if it could just be brought to us when we arrived."

"Wow that was a little different. But how did you know what I wanted?"

"You may have changed but your eating habits haven't."

"It's scary how well you know me."

As they finished dinner Rory decided to bring up the subject of what they would be doing next.

"So are you really going to make me wait until we get there?"

"Yes, I'm not telling you where we are going."

"Well what if I guess will you tell me if I guess it?"

"Yeah if you guess I will tell you."

"OK, a movie?"

"No."

"Is it something that we have done before?"

"No."

"Well I guess that rules out sex then."

Dean laughed. "I hope not."

"I'm out…I'm not good at guessing."

"Well why don't we just go then."

"Alright but you should call Gavin first and make sure he is okay."

"You're right I should."

Dean quickly pulled out his cell and dialed the number. After only a few rings Gavin answered the phone.

"Hey why are you answering Lorelai's phone?"

"She asked me to. And she told me that if it was women named Emily to tell her that she wasn't home."

"Say no more, I understand. How are things going?"

"I'm having lots of fun."

"Is Lorelai letting you eat a lot of junk food?"

"No, not really."

"Well that response makes me feel a lot better. Can I talk to Lorelai for a second?"

"Hello?" Lorelai's voice came over the phone.

"Hey he's not being too much trouble is he?"

"Oh no not at all. What about Rory…she isn't being too much trouble is she?"

"I'll get back to you on that later. So if you don't mind Gavin staying with you tonight…Rory and I have decided that we would really appreciate it."

"Of course not. May I talk to my daughter now please?" Lorelai said with a huge grin.

Dean handed Rory the phone. "It's your mom she wants to talk to you."

"Hey mom."

"Slut."

"Excuse me?"

"I heard you were getting some tonight." She whispered into the phone so Gavin wouldn't hear her.

"I am not having this conversation with you right now."

"But we will have it later right?"

"Mom I got to go. Tell Gavin I said hey."

"Gavin, your new mommy says hey." Lorelai shouted to Gavin who was now in the living room.

"Why did you just say that to him? He is too young to understand your neurotic behavior."

"Hey he's the one who said it first. I'm just going along with the plan."

"What plan?" She asked as the phone went silent. "She just hung up on me, I'm calling her back."

Dean reached to grab the phone from her hand. "How about we just forget about everything else and just enjoy being together tonight?"

"That sounds nice Dean."

"Alright let's get out of here."


	10. Chapter 10

"So we are headed back towards Stars Hollow. I assumed the surprise would be in Hartford as well." Rory said.

"No just the food."

"So what exactly are we going to be doing in Stars Hollow?"

"You know all night I think you've been assuming that I have these big plans for us, which makes me think that once we arrive to our destination you are going to be disappointed."

"Why would I be disappointed?"

"I don't know…it's just not that fancy is all."

"I don't mind. I've never been one for fancy anyway."

Dean smiled back at her as their hands met one another in the middle of the seat.

Moments later they had reached their destination.

"Come on, follow me." Dean said as he opened her door for her.

Once they came to a stop Rory took in her surroundings.

"The bridge."

"Almost…there is this awesome spot right past the bridge by the lake. Gavin and I come out here a lot and camp. I thought maybe you and I could look at the stars and talk for a while."

Dean began to flatten out the blanket he brought from the truck. Once the blanket was settled Dean gestured for Rory to make herself comfortable first.

"Thank you." She said smiling back at him. "You know I'm still impressed."

"What?" Dean looked at her questionably.

"Tonight…right now. You said it wouldn't be much but it really is. There's nothing else I'd rather be doing more right now then laying here with you."

Dean laughed a little. "I'm sure you could think of something."

Rory also started to laugh. "Even though this is where Jess and I did most of our talking back in high school."

"You sure it was just talking?" Dean asked.

"Yeah mostly. Jess and I never really did get too serious."

"Yeah you mentioned that to me before…last time we were together."

"Oh yeah." Rory stared down at the ground in front of her now feeling a little awkward about bringing the subject up in the first place.

"How is Jess anyway? Have you heard from him?"

"Good I guess, it's been a few years but last I heard he was doing pretty well for himself. He started his own business with a couple of friends."

"Good that's good." Dean let out a sigh.

"Yeah it is but why exactly are we having a conversation about Jess?"

"I guess it's easier to talk about everyone else then it is about us."

"Dean what's going on? Tell me what you're thinking. I want us to be able to figure all of this out so that we can really be together. Until you let yourself open up to me again we will never be able to have that."

"I'm sorry Rory. I've been pushing you away ever since I saw you in the diner the day you came home."

"I know you have but I don't understand why. Dean what's going on?"

"It's complicated." He said almost with rage in his voice.

Rory noticed Dean's eyes begin to tear up and he immediately looked away to cover them up.

"Dean…what's going on? I know you and something is very wrong here."

"You want to be with me right?"

"Of course I do Dean."

"What if you got what you want but one day it was all gone, just like that?"

"Dean you're starting to scare me."

"It's a simple question really…what if I wasn't around anymore but Gavin was. What would you do, I mean would you raise him as your child?"

"Dean why are talking like that. Why wouldn't you be around?"

"Would you?"

"If that's what you wanted for him then yes I would. But can you please explain to me why you're asking these kinds of questions?"

"First I have to ask you a question." Dean turned to face Rory and held onto her hands. "Rory Gilmore will you be my wife?"

"Oh my God Dean I didn't think you were going to ask this tonight…."

"Let me explain to you why…you see there's this girl that I've always been in love with, I've never stopped loving her since the moment we met. I screwed up pretty bad I let her go and I married somebody else instead. By the time I realized what a mistake I had made I thought it was too late to make things right again but I got another chance. And of course I screw up again and drive out of her life. Years went by and I never even talked to this girl. I thought about it a lot. I even got in the car a few times to visit her but I would get halfway there and turn around in fear that she would be in love with someone else now. All this time I thought she didn't want to be with me and then someone opened my eyes. They made me realize how much this girl really loves me and I don't want to spend anymore time without her. I need her more now then ever. So Rory will you marry me?"

Tears were now streaming down her eyes. "Yes Dean…yes."

Dean pulled her in for a long kiss followed by a hug. Just as they pulled away from one another Rory realized from the expression on Dean's face that there was more to it.

"There's something I need to tell you."


	11. Chapter 11

"What is it Dean?"

"It's just so hard to say this. Actually this will be the first time that I've said it out loud."

"Dean come on what is it? I don't like this; you're starting to scare me."

"Well you know up until recently Gavin and I spent a lot time around Lindsey's parents…"

"Yeah you told me before."

"Well I was there for more then that reason. I needed someone to watch Gavin while I saw a specialist there."

"For what?" Rory asked concerned.

"A while back I started to have these terrible headaches at work. At first I just ignored them thinking it was just normal being around all the construction but it got worse. Other symptoms began to show. I started feeling sick and couldn't really concentrate on anything. Tom insisted that I see a doctor about it before going back to work."

Dean could see a small puddle of tears waiting to fall from Rory's eyes any second and he knew what he said next wouldn't help the situation any.

"The doctor told me that I showed symptoms of a brain tumor and that I would need to have an MRI."

Rory began to panic and stood up from her sitting position next to Dean.

"So what happened…I assume you've had the test done by now right? What did they say it's something they can fix right?"

"Rory please sit down."

"Dean I need to know what is happening here. The way you were talking earlier Dean…what does all that mean?"

"They were right…I do have a brain tumor."

"So there are treatments though. Surgery…they can remove the tumor in surgery. Have you talked about the treatment with your doctor?"

"Yes I have, as well as the risks that come with it. Because of where it's located it would be a very high risk surgery. I could forget everything and everyone that I've ever known, be paralyzed, or it could even be fatal."

"But Dean those are common risks with most surgeries. You have to try otherwise you will just die anyway and leave everyone behind, including me and Gavin."

"That's exactly why I can't go through with it. My time is obviously going to be limited here; I want to make the most of it while I can. I don't want to go through the treatments and then it not even work…I can't put Gavin through that or you. I don't even want him to know that I'm sick."

"Gavin doesn't know?"

"No I didn't tell him."

Rory crossed her arms in front of her chest and began to walk towards the water away from Dean.

"I can't believe how selfish you are being right now Dean." Rory said loudly as she continued to stare over the water.

"How the hell am I being selfish? I'm only trying to think of everyone else involved here."

Rory turned back around to face Dean with tears not streaming down her face.

"If that were really true Dean you would have the surgery. So what if we have a couple of rough years afterwards…just imagine how many happy ones we can have when you're better."

"I can't have the surgery it's too risky. At least this way I'm guaranteed a few more years with Gavin."

"Well then I take it back."

"You take what back?"

"I'm not going to marry you. This may be picture perfect for you right now…to get married, be a family, for Gavin to have a mother again. But not like this I won't do it."

"Rory come on."

"No Dean…unless you pursue treatments I will not marry you."

"Rory you have to look at this from my point of view. I'm trying to do what's best."

"What's best for you but not for me. What makes you think I want to get married just to be a widow within months from now? Did you ever stop to think that maybe I wanted to have kids of my own with you? And if that happens I want them to be able to know their father."

"You want kids?" Dean asked weakly.

"Yeah I do. I mean don't you want to experience that? I know you have Gavin but you weren't there for his birth or there when he was just a little baby. I want that, with you, and we can have it Dean you just have to promise me you will do everything you can to fight this."

Rory now kneeled beside him as he stared back at her taking in everything she had just said. Just as he was about to answer her, a loud roar of thunder interrupted and the rain quickly followed drenching both of them. Neither of them moved.

"I'll do it." He shouted above the storm so she would hear him.

"What?"

"I said I will do it, I'll have the surgery. If that's what its going to take then I'll do it."

Rory smiled and moved towards Dean closing the space in between them. She pushed back a few strands of hair that were hanging in Dean's eyes due to the rain. In response Dean simply tucked hers behind her ears revealing her face.

"I love you." Rory mouthed to him instead of actually speaking.

The rain didn't seem to bother either of them as there lips touched and their bodies found their way back to the blanket.


	12. Chapter 12

Later that night…

"Dean, are you awake?" Rory whispered into his shoulder.

Dean's eyes fluttered open and he looked down at her.

"Yeah I'm awake."

"I can't go back to sleep."

"What made you fall asleep earlier? Just think of that again."

"Deeeaan." Rory practically whined.

"What?"

"You know, I fell asleep after we…"

"Oh yeah right, sorry." Dean laughed at her. "You know if that's what it's going to take for you to get some sleep it can definitely happen again."

"How long are we going to ignore this?"

"Ignore what Rory?" Dean said already getting frustrated already knowing where the conversation was going.

"Dean you know what I'm talking about, what we are going to do about the brain tumor."

"I just…I just need a few days of normal with you, before anything happens or us even talking about anything happening. I want for us to have at least week just me you and Gavin, nothing else. That means no mentioning of the fact that I'm sick or anything pertaining to it. Please Rory I really need this."

"Okay I promise I won't mention it for a week but we really have to talk about this. The sooner we pursue the treatment the better."

"Thank you."

Rory gave him a kiss on the cheek and nestled back into his arms. "So can we talk about the wedding then?"

"Ah yes the wedding that we can definitely talk about."

"So you want to do it soon or wait a while?"

"If this decision where up to me I would do it tomorrow."

"Why so soon?"

"I think we've both waited long enough for this, don't you?"

"Yeah I guess we have. But Dean have you thought about Gavin and this situation? I mean what if he doesn't approve of us getting married; he has gotten so used to it just being the two of you."

"I think he will be fine. Actually he has expressed much interest lately wanting you around more. I think he really likes you."

"Really?"

"Yeah really, and you know what else he asked for recently?"

"A pony."

"Uh no but he did ask if he could have a brother."

Rory smiled back at Dean. "So what do you think? Should we give into the kid and give him what he wants?"

"Not right away but soon. He shouldn't have to wait too long, he's a good kid and he doesn't ask for much."

"So I was thinking something small. You know just a few guests and our family here in Stars Hollow."

"Really?" Dean asked sounding shocked.

"Yeah, why do you say it like that?"

"I don't know it's just I've never pictured you as a small wedding kind of girl."

"Why not? I was thinking maybe in the square. If we used the gazebo it would be beautiful and simple all at the same time."

"You want to get married where Lindsay and I had our reception?" Dean asked unsure.

"Oh, wow sorry Dean I totally forgot. I can't believe I…"

"Rory it's okay. I mean if you really want to get married there then we will."

"No really, I just forgot is all. I should have known all the good ideas are already taken."

"Maybe they're not."

"Oh yeah what you got in mind?"

"How about we get married by the lake where I asked you to marry me."

"Dean that is such a good idea, it would be so beautiful there. It's perfect."

"So we have a place now we need a date?"

"How about June? The weather will feel great and it will be right after Gavin's birthday party."

"I like that date, not only is the weather perfect but it is very soon."

Rory rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling.

"This is all happening so fast. I mean I have to tell my mom that we're getting married and when I left the house we weren't even dating. I know that she is going to be excited though. That sort of reminds me are your parents still living here?"

"No they actually moved back to Chicago a few years ago. I decided it would be best to stay here with Gavin."

"I'm glad that you did." She said as she placed a few kisses on his arm. "What time is it anyway?"

Dean turned his head to face the clock. "5AM"

"I don't think I'm going to be able to go back to sleep. I'm too excited; I can't wait to tell everyone the good news."

"Let's go then."

"It's too early no one will be awake."

"That is what makes it fun. Just think how much fun it's going to be to wake Lorelai this early?"


	13. Chapter 13

Rory and Dean approached the house with caution not sure if they were going to regret doing this later.

"You think she is awake yet?"

"I don't know, you should know better than me, she is your mom."

"Well then I say no, there is no way she is up this early on a Saturday."

Rory opened the door quietly and they stepped inside. Neither of them had expected to hear cartoons blaring from the living room. Walking around the corner they found Gavin sitting alone on the couch.

"Gavin what are you doing up so early?" Dean asked surprised.

Gavin ran over to Dean and gave him a big hug. "I woke up with Luke today; he said that all of the good cartoons come on early Saturday.

"Oh yeah, well was he right?" Dean asked with a smile.

"I think when Luke said the best cartoons come on early he meant the best ones from when he was a kid."

Dean and Rory both laughed. "Well I'm glad you're not too interested in what's on because there is something Rory and I would like to talk to you about."

Gavin crossed his arms in front of his chest with a very serious face. "I'm listening."

Dean and Rory both exchanged smiles. "How about we all go sit down together."

All of them took a seat on the couch, Gavin sitting in the middle of them.

"Have you seen Lorelai yet this morning?" Dean asked before continuing.

"No she didn't wake up when Luke and I did. She just mumbled something about evil and went back to sleep.

"Sounds like mom." Rory said.

"Alright well that's okay; I wanted to tell you before anyone else anyway."

"Tell me what?" Gavin asked getting impatient.

"Well as you already know Rory and I have been spending a lot of time together the last few days. But what I haven't told you was that Rory and I used to be a couple, the two of us dated a lot before. And after spending some time with her the last few days I've realized that we both really still like each other, love each other actually."

"I really like Rory too." Gavin said with a huge smile.

"I know you do which is why I was hoping you would be okay with what we are about to tell you."

"I'm okay with it."

Rory and Dean both exchanged confusing looks.

"Gavin you don't even know what I'm going to ask you, how do you know it will be okay?"

"Dad come on I'm not stupid I know all about the surprise party the two of you are planning for me."

Rory's eyes widened and Dean found himself at a loss for words.

"Well Gavin not that I have any idea what you're talking about but if Rory and I were planning a surprise party for you, why would we ask you permission?"

"So there isn't going to be a party then?" Gavin asked disappointed.

"Yes…I mean no. No I mean we already planned your birthday remember we were going to take a road trip wherever you wanted to go."

"Well then who is the surprise party for that I heard Lorelai tell Luke about?"

"I don't know but let's just hope they invite us to it." Rory chimed in.

"Well what were you going to tell me then?"

"Rory and I spent the night talking." Dean and Rory's eyes met guiltily. "And we were hoping that you would be okay with what we decided to do. Gavin…Rory and I have decided to get married. Do you know what that means?"

"That you guys will be like Luke and Lorelai?"

"Well sort of, but most importantly it means that we all will be a family. Rory will live with us and she will be there for us when we need her and we will be there for her. And Rory will be your step mom so if you feel comfortable doing so you can call her mom."

Gavin stayed quiet for a while making both of them nervous. "So do you have to get married before I can call you mom?"

"Gavin if you don't want to you don't have to, I completely understand that this is a big change for you." Rory explained.

"No I want to, yesterday I told Lorelai that I wished you could be my mom, but she told me not to get my hopes up too high."

"You really said that?" Gavin nodded his head yes. "I would be honored for you to call me mom."

Dean smiled. "So you're okay with all of this Gavin?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be? I'm the one that kept pushing the two of you together. I knew it worked when I saw the two of you kissing on the bed."

They all laughed together and shared their first group hug as a family. They had all been so caught up in the excitement that no one noticed the sleep Lorelai staring at them on the stairs.

"What is going on down here? Don't you people sleep…I mean do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Well maybe you should wake up a little earlier for a change. You slept so late today that you woke up a grandma."

"Excuse me?"


	14. Chapter 14

"What do you mean I'm a grandma? Rory are you pregnant?"

Rory laughed at how clueless her mother was. "No mom I'm not pregnant but you do have a grandson now." Rory explained running her hand through Gavin's hair as she stared back at him. "Or at least you will soon, Dean and I have decided to get married."

"What...wait a minute. When did this all happen? I let the two of you have one night together and this is what happens?"

"I know it seems sudden but this is something we both want and Gavin too." Rory explained.

"I told you Rory was going to be my mommy." Gavin chirped in excited.

"Yes well I should know, it's best not to doubt the children...they really do know everything. Well Dean welcome to the family, it's about time the two of you realized you belong together." Lorelai said as she walked over to give him a hug.

"Thanks Lorelai."

"I don't know about this whole grandma thing though...you see I'm much too young to be a grandma." Lorelai said getting down to eye level joking with Gavin.

"I won't tell anyone if you won't, it'll be out secret."

"No way, I can't wait to tell everyone that I'm your grandma. Speaking of which, how long exactly do I have before I am officially a grandma anyway?"

"Not very long at all actually. We've decided to get married in June."

"As in next month June or as in next year?"

"Next month." Dean and Rory both answered the question together.

"Why the rush?" Lorelai asked concerned.

Rory looked over at Dean guiltily before answering, she didn't want to lie to her mother but at the same time she couldn't just blurt out what was really going on at that moment.

"We're just really ready to finally be together. We both figured that we've waited long enough for this."

"Oh, okay then." Lorelai didn't sound too convinced. Even though her daughter had been away for a while she still knew her well enough to know that something wasn't right. Plus the fact that her list maker was getting married in a month with no plans yet to speak of.

"We've already decided on the location." Rory spoke up as if reading her mother's mind. "By the lake where Dean proposed."

"Wow, I think that will be really nice. Have you thought about where you are going to have the reception?"

"No not yet."

"How about at the inn?"

"That sounds great to me, how about you Dean?"

"Yeah I mean it sounds perfect."

Gavin suddenly stood up from the couch and reached out for Rory's hand.

"Come on, I'll help you pack your stuff so you can come home with us." Gavin insisted using all of his strength to get her off of the couch.

"Gavin I can still go home with you even if I don't pack all of my stuff. We can just get a little bit at a time." She explained to him as he continued to drag her towards her bedroom.

As both Gavin and Rory disappeared into the bedroom Dean began to laugh at the situation.

"This isn't funny you know, she just got back home and she's already being taken away from me again." Lorelai complained slumping down onto the couch where Rory was previously sitting.

"Are you alright with all of this Lorelai?"

She smiled at Dean. "Yeah, of course. I'm really happy for you guys. This all just seems to be happening so fast, I just don't want anyone to get hurt in this situation, including Gavin."

"I appreciate the concern but we know what we're doing and everything is going to be great between all of us, I promise." Lorelai gave him a half smile with the I hope you're right face. "I should go see if they need any help."

"And while you do that I'm gonna make the coffee, I don't know how I've gone this far without it."

Rory smiled at Dean as he entered the room.

"It's amazing what a five year old with one good arm can do in a matter of minutes." Rory commented as they both watched him scramble around gathering Rory's things.

"I love you." Dean blurted out unexpectedly to Rory.

"I love you too Dean."

Dean moved closer for a kiss which she happily gave in to. Gavin took notice of the sudden change in the room right away and began to walk towards the kitchen.

"Lorelai they're kissing." Gavin yelled from the doorway of the room.


	15. Chapter 15

One Week Later

Dean walked into the apartment surprised as the smell from the kitchen met his nose.

"Gavin…Rory, I'm home." He said rounding the corner into the kitchen to find the two of them. "What are you doing?" Dean said laughing.

"We're cooking." Rory said it like it was obvious as she moved to the side to reveal the food.

"I see that, but when exactly did you learn to cook?"

"I'm teaching her." Gavin chimed in. "We're going to have chicken and pasta."

Dean gave Rory a worried look; she smiled before turning back around and continuing to cook.

"Gavin why don't you go ahead and get your shower before dinner starts. I'll help Rory with the rest."

"Okay." He said not upset at all about leaving them alone.

Dean smiled as he watched Gavin disappear around the corner. "So where did you really learn to cook?"

"I bought a cookbook when I was living alone, I got tired of eating the same fast food all of the time. It's really not as hard as we've always made it out to be, I mean you just follow the directions and it's like magic."

"Does your mom know that you can cook?"

"No, and I don't think it's something we have to share."

"It smells delicious." He said as his arms encircled around her waist and kissed her neck. "Hey, I know what I'm getting you for Christmas…one of those kiss the cook aprons."

"Haha very funny, go ahead make jokes. See if dinner is ready for you tomorrow mister."

"As long as you're still here when I get home I don't mind if the food isn't. Hey I was at Doose's all day today when did the two of you come in and get groceries anyway?"

"We actually went yesterday when you were working with Tom; you were too tired to notice the fully stocked fridge when you got home."

"Fully stocked fridge?" Dean asked confused as he made his way over to it and pulled open the door. "I haven't seen this much food in the fridge since I lived at home."

"You'll get used to it again, it took me a while to adjust as well but now that I've lived with food I don't want to live without it again."

"I guess I could get used to this." He said smiling.

"So did you call your doctor today and schedule an appointment?"

"No, not yet, but I will, don't worry."

"Well the food is ready when we are."

"I'll go ahead and set the table." Dean washed his hands and proceeded to get dishes from the cabinet. "So I was thinking…you know how we talked about having a baby?"

"Yeah?" Rory looked at him curious where this was going.

"Well if that happens to become a reality soon we aren't going to have enough room for all of us here in this apartment."

"It wouldn't be so bad." Rory said calmly.

"Yeah but it would be a lot better if we lived in a house…a three bedroom house to be exact."

"Sounds like you've already got something in mind."

"Well I do, there is this house for sale, and it's actually just a few blocks down from your mom's place. I took a look at it this morning before work and I think it would be perfect for us. There are a few minor repairs that need to be done but it's nothing that Tom and I can't handle."

"So should I even bother looking at this house or have you already signed the lease?" Rory asked jokingly with a smile.

Dean laughed. "Yeah well of course I want you to see it first, but I know you're going to love it. And it's not for lease it's only for sale; we would have to own it." Dean explained as he put the last plate on the table.

Rory walked up to him and gave him a long kiss and hug. After the kiss she didn't let go. "I like when you work at Doose's…you don't smell bad when you get home. You know Taylor mentioned to me yesterday that if you could dedicate yourself full time there he could offer you a management position with great pay and full benefits."

"I know Rory; the man tries to get me to quit working for Tom everyday. I don't exactly want to work for Taylor Doose the rest of my life."

"I know but there are other things to consider as well…you won't be working in such hot conditions this summer and…"

Dean's smile slowly faded away. "Rory I know what you're doing, but I'm not going to let this tumor decide how I live my life. Until my doctor tells me otherwise I'm not going out of my way to cater to this." Dean's voice got louder and angrier.

"Dean calm down…Gavin is going to hear you. And us arguing about isn't how he should find out."

"Personally I don't think he should find out about it at all."

"Dean you have to tell him, at least that you're sick and that we're getting help."

"Can we just stop talking about this before he comes back?"

"Fine."

"Fine." Dean took a seat at the table. He watched her as she retrieved the food and sat it in the middle of the table. As she sat it down he noticed her hand slightly trembling. "Rory I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you, this whole thing just has me feeling so powerless I just want…"

"Dean its okay…we can go see the house tomorrow." Rory said quickly interrupting him as she noticed Gavin approaching and clearly Dean did not.

"What house?" Gavin asked as he joined them at the table.

"Rory and I were just talking about how neat it would be if we could all move into a bigger house together. It would also be closer to Lorelai."

"Would my room be bigger? Because I want a desk."

"Yeah it would be a little bigger and I think we can get you a desk. Maybe you and I can even build one together."

"Really?" Gavin asked excited. "We should build Rory one too so she can start writing again."

"That's so sweet Gavin but I really don't need one, I can write anywhere."

"No he's right; you need a place to write again. I mean that is what you came home to do. Maybe we should look for a house with four rooms so you can have an office." Dean said out loud forgetting the quizmaster was at the table.

"Why do we need four rooms…the two of you share a room, I get a room and Rory gets an office. That's three rooms."

Rory watched as Dean's eyes grew big and she knew he had no idea what to say.

"Well Gavin you know maybe Lorelai will want to come spend the night with us sometime or someone else might drop by and then we will have a guest room." Rory explained.

"Or maybe if I ever get a brother or sister they can have their own room." Gavin said casually as he began to eat his pasta.

_Rory and Dean exchanged smiles and instead of saying another word proceeded to eat in silence. At least until Gavin asked his next question. _

Dean walked out of the bathroom from his shower finding Rory comfortably lying on the bed.

"Oh good you're done, I need my lotion." She explained as she got up and ran past him into the bathroom.

"Rory you do realize you don't have to wait until I'm out of the shower to come into the bathroom?"

"Well yeah I guess." She said getting back into bed with the lotion.

"Really, I actually insist that you do interrupt my showers from time to time. It would be very much appreciated." He said climbing into bed next to her.

"Well I will keep that in mind, I just wasn't sure if it was appropriate timing for something like that yet, you know?"

"Rory we're getting married in a few weeks, I think I can handle seeing you in the bathroom."

Rory hit Dean playfully. "That's not what I meant. What if Gavin walked in? It's going to take some time for all of us to adjust to living together."

"You do have a point…but I know something you don't know." Dean whispered before kissing her shoulder and then her neck slowly.

"What?"

"The door is locked and Gavin can't get in unless we let him in." He slowly positioned himself over her. "Are you ready to make that baby?"

Rory blushed a little before answering. "Yes I am."


	16. Chapter 16

"I have an appointment scheduled for Friday morning." Dean announced as he leaned on the frame of the bathroom door.

Rory first glanced at him using the mirror as she applied her mascara but quickly turned around when she saw him about to leave again.

"As in Friday the seventeenth?"

"Yeah is that going to be okay?"

"Well that's the day before you know who's party…we have to decorate."

"I know but it was the only opening the doctor has anytime soon. You don't have to go with me; you can stay and get ready for the party."

"No Dean, I am going with you. We can decorate when we get back home." Rory said angrily making Dean become very nervous.

"Alright that's fine, you can go with me, just please calm down. We will tell Gavin that we are going out that day and just let him stay the night with Lorelai. That way we will have the entire night to decorate when we get back."

Rory folded her arms in front of her. "You know my mom is going to ask where we are going?"

"So make something up."

"I don't want to make something up…I want to be able to tell my mom the truth. Why can't I tell her?"

"You told her about Gavin's party and he knew about it two days later."

"Dean you know this is different. I mean this is a huge deal, she wouldn't say anything if we asked her not to."

"I don't want people to know about this Rory. It's already hard enough for us." Dean explained turning away from her and walking back into the bedroom.

"I'm not asking you to tell the world, I just want to be able to tell her the truth. Dean I'm here for you but when you have that surgery I'm going to need someone too." She tried to explain following him into the bedroom.

Dean thought about what she said. "Alright fine we can tell her, but only her." He turned back around to face her. "I don't even want Luke to know."

"Okay." Rory studied him for a moment before saying anything else to make sure he was really alright. "I'm excited about seeing the house today."

Dean smiled giving in to her. "I know you're going to love it, and it's going to be amazing to own our own house."

"You must really love this house Dean, every time you talk about it your eyes sparkle…should I be jealous?" She asked staring back at him.

"Hardly, you do way more then just make my eyes sparkle." He informed her as his arms wrapped around her and pulled her closer. Starting with her shoulder he kissed her slowly making his way to her neck.

"We can't do this now…we have an appointment and we will be very late."

"I know you don't want to stop." He teased.

"What I want to do and what we have to do are two completely different things."

"Yeah I guess you're right. I'm going to make sure Gavin is ready to go while you finish up in here but we will continue this later." He said backing slowly out the door of the room watching her smile.

It wasn't long before they were finally on there way to see the house. Gavin was the first to react as they pulled up in the driveway.

"This house is huge, and it has a huge front yard too."

"Wait until you see the back, it's bigger and there's a playset"

"Wow, this is the best birthday present ever."

"Gavin this isn't your birthday present, it's just our new home."

"It's like a present for all of us. Can we go inside now?"

"Of course, go ahead. Rory and I will catch up." Dean watched as Gavin ran to the realtor. "You're really quiet, what do you think?" He asked turning to Rory.

"It's beautiful…I love it Dean."

"Wait until you see the inside…I've already got a plan, there is plenty of room to add on a writing room for you. And we will have a while before the baby comes so until then you can use the extra bedroom." Dean explained excitedly.

"I'm not pregnant yet you know?"

"Who says? If you ask me I thought last night was very successful."

"Well yeah maybe." She said with a smile. "Well all of this sounds wonderful but do you think I could see the house first before we start remodeling it?"

"Yeah…sorry, let's go."

They both got out of the car and joined Gavin and the realtor. As they approached they knew right away that Gavin had made a new friend.

"Kevin I'd like you to meet my mom and dad." Gavin announced causing everyone to laugh.

"Hello I'm Rory and this is Dean." She explained extending her hand.

"We met yesterday actually." Dean clarified.

"Shall we go inside? Kevin suggested towards the house. "This house is just perfect for you guys…from what Dean has told me I just know that you're going to love this house Rory." Kevin said as he unlocked the door and let them inside. "This is the grand living room. If you continue through this way there is a den area. It would be a perfect play area for the little ones."

Rory and Dean both immediately looked at Gavin to see if he had caught what the man said. Amazingly he didn't seem to be paying anyone attention as he made his way up the stairs.

"Follow me…I'll take you to the kitchen."

Dean and Rory stayed a little behind. "Did you tell this guy you were going home to make a baby yesterday?" Rory asked jokingly.

"What?"

"Well he seems to know a lot about us."

"I just mentioned that we want more kids is all."

Rory couldn't help but smile at Dean as she realized how happy he was in that moment. That was when she realized how bad he really wanted this, all of it, the house, more kids, and her. That's when she also realized what he had meant before…the surgery was risky and it wasn't always a hundred percent effective. Now that she had him she began to wonder what her life would be like if she lost him.


	17. Chapter 17

Friday morning

Dean rolled over in bed to find Rory staring at him wide awake.

"Hey…what are you doing up so early?"

"I didn't sleep much last night. I'm too worried about today."

"Everything is going to be okay."

"You're not scared?"

"Not anymore, I'm going to get this surgery or whatever it takes so that we can all live a normal life together. I'm more anxious to just get it over with."

"Yeah me too. I'm going to take a shower; it's almost time for us to leave anyway." Rory started to get out of bed but was quickly pulled back by Dean for a kiss.

"Hey, I love you."

"I love you too."

Dean watched her as she walked away towards the bathroom. Knowing there was nothing he could do to make her feel any better about what was going to happen today he began to get ready himself.

The ride to the hospital wasn't much better. Rory brought along a book and seemed to be very into what she was reading. He wanted to talk but decided to stay quiet instead not being sure if this was her way of dealing or not. Two hours later they pulled into a parking spot at the hospital, he turned to Rory and shook her slightly to wake her.

"Hey, we're here."

Rory slowly opened her eyes and adjusted in the seat. "When did I fall asleep?"

"About an hour ago. I figured I should just let you sleep since you didn't get to last night."

"You ready to go inside?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice Dr. Sawyer." Dean said as he and Rory took on a seat on the opposite side of the desk.

"Of course, I'm just glad that you've changed your mind about the surgery. I really think that this is going to have a positive outcome."

"We hope so."

"Alright let's take a look…the results from your last MRI show a small growth. It actually doesn't look too bad. As I explained to you last time our best bet for this is to do a biopsy. We will be removing this piece of the skull." The doctor explained pointing at the x-ray. "Then we will remove a sample of brain tissue from the infected area."

"What will that tell us exactly?" Rory asked.

"The most important thing to find out is rather or not the growth is cancerous. We will be able to test the tissue we remove right away and depending on the results, we can determine the next step."

"Well just so we have an idea what to expect if the results go either way…" Dean asked nervously.

"If the growth is cancerous we will have to do our best to remove all of it and also continue tests for the next few years to be sure that it isn't coming back or spreading. If the tests are negative, we will still remove as much of it as possible. Removing it will relieve you of the headaches and dizziness you were having."

"How long does the surgery take?"

"The biopsy will only take about an hour. It's the next few days after that that are the hardest. You will be put under general anesthesia and your recovery could be up to twelve hours after the surgery, followed by a hospital stay of at least three days."

"So you're going to be removing just a piece of the tumor?"

"Normally yes, we won't know for sure until we actually operate but it may be possible to remove it entirely the first time in your case because of how small it is. As of right now I don't see any reason for you two to worry yourselves over this too much. Dean I know you've expressed how worried you are about the surgery in the past, this is a common procedure performed everyday on hundreds of people and I don't foresee any problems."

"Alright…well I guess we should schedule a date to get this done then." Dean said.

"You will need a few weeks for recovery so the two of you should decide when the best time will be."

Dean looked to Rory to see if she had anything to say. Instead he was shocked to see her speechless and on the verge of tears.

"Rory, are you alright?"

"Yeah I think so…can we talk outside for a second?"

"That's okay you two don't have to leave, I will. I'll check back in on you in about ten minutes." The doctor announced.

Dean waited for the door to shut. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, I just got this bad feeling about all of this and I'm scared now. I wasn't scared before but now I'm really freaking out. I don't know what I will do if something happens to you. We're moving into this big new house and we're supposed to get married in a few weeks…"

"We're supposed to? We still are getting married in a few weeks." Dean clarified.

"Dean you've already waited too long for this, you need to get this done as soon as possible."

"No I'm not changing our wedding plans. We can schedule it for a week after the wedding. That's not that long Rory."

"Alright…okay. We can do this." Rory said out loud while taking a deep breath. "We have to tell Gavin you know?"

"Yeah I know, but not tonight. It will ruin his birthday. You ready to go home?"

"We can't go home; we have to decorate for Gavin's party." Rory said sad.

"I know, I meant home to Stars Hollow."

"Yes I am definitely ready to be out of here."

"Come on, let's go. I'll call the doctor's office later and schedule the surgery."


	18. Chapter 18

"This place looks amazing; I think Gavin is really going to love it." Dean said as he and Rory stood in the doorway looking back at a now prehistoric Miss Patty's.

"I hope so."

Rory was quiet and hadn't said a word about what happened in the doctor's office since they left earlier that day. Realizing that she was finally coming to terms with exactly what was going to happen Dean didn't want to talk about it at all, if anything he wanted their normal life back for the next couple of weeks and he knew now, more then ever, she wanted that too. He tried to think of something that would make her smile and he knew almost instantly.

"Well now that we're done decorating, what do you say we bring back some old memories over on the bean bag chair?" He suggested pointing.

"Dean you can't be serious." She said with a smile.

Mission accomplished, Dean thought to himself. "Why not, it's not like we haven't done it before?" Finding it even harder to keep himself from smiling now.

"That was a long time ago, we were young."

"So what is your point? It was excusable then just because we were young?"

"Well yeah. If we got caught in here now, we would never hear the end of it."

"You know we never did get caught before but I still get crap about it from everyone in town because of what you wrote in your book. So if I'm going to continue to hear all the inadvertent jokes about it all the time I figure we may as well have a little fun ourselves. You know if we do it again and get away with it…the joke is sort of on them."

Rory gave Dean an indecisive but yearning look. He could see that she wanted to but knew she was thinking of the many reasons not to.

Rory smiled slightly. "We do have the keys…we could lock the door."

"Yeah?" Dean asked now kind of surprised.

"But I don't know Dean, Miss Patty could still stop by."

"Yeah I know, I never thought you would actually do it. I just wanted to see you blush is all." He explained wrapping his arms around her from behind. "Come on, let's go home. We have a lot of packing to do and a wedding to plan." Dean said softly pulling her towards him.

Dean unlocked the door to their apartment and allowed Rory to go in first. Once he stepped in and closed the door he stood still for a moment.

"Did you hear that?" He asked her.

"Hear what?" She whispered back now worried.

"Exactly…no noise, we are completely alone tonight."

Rory playfully hit him on the shoulder. "Geez Dean you scared me, I thought you really did hear something."

"I'm sorry…hey are you hungry? I feel like cooking." Dean asked cheerfully walking towards the kitchen.

"Seriously?" Rory asked confused.

"Well actually I was just going to order pizza but it sounded good." He explained walking back into the living room and grabbing the phone.

"Yeah pizza sounds great. I'm going to take a shower before it gets here."

Dean nodded as she walked away but his attention quickly turned back to the phone when the person on the other line asked if it would be carryout or delivery."

After placing the order he went into the bedroom to change. Instantly he could hear the sound of the shower running and suddenly couldn't figure out why he was still standing in the bedroom alone instead of being with her. Throwing the rest of his clothes on the bed he made his way into the bathroom and almost behind the shower curtain before getting caught.

"Dean what are doing?"

"I'm joining you…you won't interrupt my showers so I figured I would interrupt yours."

"Oh…" Rory said sounding a bit embarrassed as she turned around and let the water hit her face.

"Hey, you alright?"

"Uh huh." She managed to get out turning back around to face him.

"You've been crying."

"No I haven't."

"Now you're lying. Rory you can rinse your face as much as you want but it isn't going to take away the redness in your eyes." He said as he reached for her and moved closer.

"Dean I'm sorry okay but I came in here to get away from you, no one can see the tears in the shower. I can't be strong all of the time, I'm so scared. And I feel like if I show it, it's going to make it worse. I can't look at you anymore and pretend that everything is okay. I just got you back, I'm not ready to lose you again, and it's not fair."

"You know I could get hit by a bus tomorrow and die." Dean said trying to reason.

"Why would you say something like that?" Rory asked pulling away from his embrace.

"Well because it's true, you can't predict things like that. Can we please just be happy? I really hope that it's not but if these are my last few days here I don't want them to be like this. I want you to be able to look back and smile when you think of the good memories not this bad stuff that you're thinking right now. Rory I need you to live with me not mourn something that hasn't happened."

"You're right. I don't know what I'm freaking out over anyway, everything is going to be fine. All of us are going to be fine." She said still trying to convince herself.

"Thank you." He said as he tucked her wet hair behind her back and kissed her neck.

"Only half of you is wet."

"What?" Dean asked confused.

"Get under the water, your chest is sexy when it's wet." She explained practically pulling him with her.

"As opposed to when it's dry it's not?" Dean asked pretending to be hurt.

"Oh no, that's not what I meant at all. It's just nice seeing you like this, you know, wet and hard."

"No pun intended huh?" He asked laughing.

"Oh did you think I was complimenting your physique?" Rory joked.

"You're really bad, you know that?"

"Well if you think I'm being bad now just wait until later…it's not every night that we get the house to ourselves you know?"


	19. Chapter 19

Rory rolled over to face Dean, surprised to find him smiling back at her.

"Good morning beautiful." He said placing a kiss on her forehead.

"I'm so sore now, how do you expect me to throw a birthday party today?" Rory whined.

"Don't worry about it; I'll take care of everything. You just relax today."

"Yeah right, like that's really going to happen."

"I can handle it…"

"You realize that we didn't pack a single thing last night or even think about the wedding?"

"Yes we did, we practiced for the honeymoon." She smiled and he waited a moment to see what she had to say now. "What…no comment on that?"

"We should get going; we have to make sure everything is ready for Gavin's party. Not to mention he probably thinks we've abandoned him, he has been with my mom now for two days."

"He loves your mom, I'm sure he is having more fun there then he would be here anyway."

"Yeah but I miss him."

"Me too, but we have to make sure everything is ready before we get him."

"You think he has figured it out? I mean he was onto us before."

"Well I think he knows that something is going to happen he just isn't sure about what exactly."

"Come on, let's get out of bed we have lots to do today." Rory insisted getting up first.

After everything was situated at Miss Patty's and the party plans were in motion they decided it was time to get Gavin. Dean and Rory walked inside the house and were a bit disappointed to not find Gavin greeting them right away.

"Hello?" Rory shouted before continuing to the kitchen.

As she and Dean got closer to the kitchen they could see why. Luke had prepared a birthday breakfast and the three of them were entertaining themselves with their smiley face pancakes.

"Daddy, Rory look…Luke made me pancakes with faces." Rory laughed with him as he showed her his plate but was quickly saddened when she realized what he had called her.

"Well I hope that you guys are almost finished because Rory and I have a big day at the dinosaur museum planned for you." Dean explained excited.

"Really?" Gavin's eyes widened.

"Yes really, happy birthday Gavin." Rory said giving him a hug.

"Okay, okay…I'm ready to go." He said almost knocking over his chair in excitement. "I thought you were planning a party for me though?"

"Gavin we already told you that there wasn't a party. You told me that you didn't really want one remember?" Dean asked.

"Yeah but I just thought maybe, but that's okay we're going to see the dinosaurs."

"You guys have fun and be careful…" Lorelai shouted as Gavin pulled them towards the door.

"Bye mom, bye Luke. We'll see you tonight." She shouted back.

Dean helped adjust Gavin's seat and get comfortable before getting into the driver's seat. "Okay so are we all ready to go?"

"Yes." Both Gavin and Rory screamed together.

"When we get there the first thing I want to see is this four story dinosaur." Rory said turning around to talk to Gavin.

"Believe me, it will be the first thing you see. It's too huge not to be."

"Well I'm excited about this; I don't think I've ever been to a dinosaur museum before."

"Really?" Dean asked shocked.

"Yeah."

There was silence in the car for a few minutes as they drove until Gavin spoke up again.

"So if you guys weren't planning a party for me then what were you doing the days I stayed with Lorelai and Luke?"

Dean and Rory exchanged glances. Dean turned back to stare straight ahead at the road and smiled. Seeing this she knew that she would have to be the one to come up with something.

"We were planning the wedding Gavin."

"Oh."

Dean smiled again and whispered to Rory. "See I told you it counted as wedding plans."

"SShhh." Rory said beginning to grin herself.

They arrived at the museum on schedule. Gavin pulled Rory by the arm immediately leading her to all of his favorite spots. Tour guides were available but they didn't need one with Gavin there.

"This is my favorite room." Gavin explained leading Rory into a dark room. "This is what a meteor shower looks like, isn't it cool?" He asked as the three of them watched several lights shooting above them in the dome.

"Yes it is, this is amazing." She said looking up.

"We thought you would like it." Gavin proudly stated. "Daddy has something he wants to give you Rory."

Rory turned around to look at Dean. He stood behind her holding a small black box.

"I know we've already decided to get married but this makes it official." Dean said opening the box and revealing the diamond ring. Her hands trembled as he slid the ring onto her finger. "You like it?"

"Dean I love it." She said wrapping her arms around him tightly. "The two of you planned this?"

"When you went to the bathroom earlier, I asked our own personal tour guide where he thought the best place to give it to you would be and he picked this room."

"I'm going to have to get used to living with two sneaky boys."

The ride home was quiet especially after Gavin had fallen asleep in the backseat.

"Should we wake him up?" Rory asked.

"No not yet, let him sleep right now. We can wake him right before we get home."

"This ring is beautiful…" She said admiring her hand.

"I'm glad that you like it."

"Hey Dean, did you notice that Gavin called me Rory today?"

"I didn't really pick up on it but now that you mention it yeah he did."

"He called me mommy a few days ago, and I really liked it. I mean he doesn't have to if he doesn't want to but it was nice you know?"

"Yeah…don't worry, he'll do it again. Sometimes kids just forget things like that especially on days this eventful."

"Yeah I'm sure you're right."

An hour later….

"Gavin wake up." Dean shook him awake.

"I'm awake. Where are we?"

"We're at Miss Patty's, she asked us to bring you by before we went back home so she could give you your birthday present."

"Really? Miss Patty bought me something."

"I guess so, come on, let's go see what it is."

Gavin quickly got out of the car and Dean and Rory allowed him to lead the way. When the door opened Gavin jumped when suddenly everyone screamed "Surprise."


End file.
